Wissahickon School Board re-elects Young Park as president, ignites anger from residents

WISSAHICKON — The re-election of Young Park and Janice Singer as president and vice president, respectively, of the Wissahickon School Board during the annual reorganization meeting Dec. 4 ignited a number of angry public comments from those in attendance.

Seven of the nine board members were present for the meeting and unanimously voted to re-elect Park and Singer. Board members Marjorie Brown and Barbara Moyer were absent.

This will be Park’s fourth straight year as president and Singer’s second consecutive and third overall year as vice president.

In his acceptance speech, Park said he and Singer would do their best to move the district forward “for the betterment of all our children in this district, whatever their race may be,” alluding to previous comments made from some that suggested the board doesn’t do enough to help minority students achieve success in the district.

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“We are here in the best interest of our children,” he said. “That’s what we are striving for. … It has been the policy of this board to have everyone be included in the process, and educated, and equal. This board will do our best for the best education of our children. I’m sure all of our board members and administration, especially Mrs. Clark, we are all committed to that process.”

Having had a chance to speak, the floor was then opened to the members of the public, many of whom were not thrilled with the outcome of the election. Some were also angered by the change in the format of the meeting, which normally allows for comments to be made before and after the meeting, but instead only allowed public comments to take place afterward.

Christine Delaurentis said her prepared comments were moot because the board only offered her a chance to speak after the meeting, with no chance to have any impact on the results of the election.

“As members of the Wissahickon School Board, you are all elected to represent the community, the schools, the district employees and most of all the students,” she said. “The public face of this group is your president. This person represents all that you all stand for as a group both in speech and action. Unfortunately, the current president has not shown the greater community that he has even a modicum of respect for those people that come before this body and don’t agree with him 100 percent.”

She said Park has been arrogant and condescending to community members during meetings and hearings.

“If this is how this president represents himself in public, I shudder to think what his actions are behind closed doors,” she said.

She said the school board doesn’t truly listen to the concerns of the community and allows Park to continue his “tyrannical rant.”

“We don’t have a voice. The community doesn’t have a voice,” she said.

Karen Palmer said the actions of the board are “not normal” and “not healthy” compared to other area school districts, including the Colonial School District.

She said the board should strive to relate to the community better through newsletters and town meetings.

“While you still have a job, if you want to keep it for another term, I strongly suggest that you do some field research into what a healthy board looks like,” she said. “Because we’re doing that, and we’re learning that it’s not this.”

Amy Joyce said she was at a loss for words at the outcome of the election, adding the president should lead by example and she was blown away that not one board member voted against Park’s re-election.

“Every single one of you in your campaign speech mentioned the importance of community,” Joyce said. “You did as well Mr. Park. You talked about the importance of community input. You have not done one thing with our input. The CIG is a joke. I’ll save you the trouble of a questionnaire. It’s a joke.”

She said the members who make up the CIG have no voice and it is a waste of time.

“What am I missing?” she asked regarding a change from the board. “What is it going to take?”